Track shoe



I. SHAPIRO TRACK SHOE Jan. 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Feb.10, 1951 INVENTORZ Zs'adare 5kafizr Jan. 11, 1955 l. SH APIRO TRACK SHOEOriginal Filed Feb. 10, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ZradwreSfiafiira AZZar/zeg/ United States Patent TRACK SHOE Isadore Shapiro,Beverly Hills, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to A. R. Hyde &Sons Company, a corporatiou of Massachusetts Original No. 2,660,813,dated December 1, 1953, Serial No. 210,313, February 10, 1951.Application for reissue September 28, 1954, Serial No. 459,225

2 Claims. (Cl. 362.5)

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets [1] appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made by reissue.

My invention relates to shoes and has special application to shoesintended primarily for sports involving considerable activity. Moreparticularly, my invention has a special application to track shoes.[However, it is also applicable to shoes for football, baseball, boxing,walking, golf, etc] In games involving great physical activity andespecially in running, it is desired that a shoe be of extremely lightWeight and fit the foot snugly in the manner of a glove, in order thatthe wearer may be practically unconscious of the presence thereof. Inthe manufacture of such shoes, therefore particular pains are taken tomake the upper of the shoe of extremely pliable, lightweight material,such as kidskin and other leathers. To achieve lightness of weight it iscustomary not to provide a lining. Such materials are stretchable to anundesirable extent and lack resilience, failing to return to normal sizeafter stretching.

It is found that while such shoes may fit the wearer's foot perfectlywhen new, after even moderate use the shoe invariably loses its snug fitbecause of the violent stretching produced by muscular action togetherwith impregnation of sweat or outside moisture. The wearer maycompensate. for such stretching to a certain extent by means of thelacing, drawing the shoes more snugly around the instep, but this isonly capable of compensating for stretch transversely of the foot.Longitudinal stretch, on the contrary, cannot be compensated for by anyknown means and, therefore, ashoe soon becomes too long for the Wearersfoot and must be discarded because of foot slippage within the shoe,producing unsatisfactory traction and annoyance.

In accordance with my invention, I have provided means whereby a shoemay be rendered substantially immune. to excessive longitudinal stretchand which will. also, greatly limit the amount of transverse stretch. laccomplish this object by applying to the shoe a band of material whichwill permit a limited amount of give, so that the wearersfoot will notfeel as if it were enclosed in a vise, but, at the same time, willrestrict the amount of stretch to a low minimum. Thus, the life of theshoe will be greatly extended because of the elimination of suchexcessive stretch as has heretofore required early discarding of theshoe.

The band which is applied to the shoe in accordance with my inventionextends substantially from toe to heel thereof along both sides of theupper and may be secured to the shoe in various ways. For example, Ihave found that a shoe embodying my invention may be produced either bysewing the band along its top and bottom edges either to the outside orthe inside of the shoe upper; in. another arrangement, the band isinterlaced from the outside to the inside of the shoe at spaced points.

My invention will be more fully understood by reference to the appendeddrawings illustrating preferred embodiments thereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a track shoe illustrating apreferred form of my invention;

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are sectional views taken substantially along thelines 22, 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an elevational view similar to Figure 1 but showing anotherembodiment of my invention;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 66 ofFigure 5; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along theline 77 of Figure 5 but substantially straightened out for convenienceof illustration.

The shoe illustrated is in basic structure substantially astandard. typeof track shoe as known in the United States for many years. although itshould be understood, as stated above that my invention is likewiseapplicable to shoes intended for other purposes. However, my] Myinvention is particularly applicable to shoes of the Oxford or low type,i. e., wherein the shoe fits snugly around the foot and terminates at orabout the base of. the ankle.

Referring first to Figures 14, inclusive, such a shoe comprises an upperportion 10 which, in the embodiment shown, is formed of a relativelythin, soft and flexible kidskin or like material reinforced as at 12 forlacing eyelets 15, the lacing not being shown. The upper is secured asby stitching to a sole 16 and sole and heel taps 17, 17'. To enhance thelight Weight of the shoe the sole strip 16 may be skived down at thefront and there terminated. The usual insole 18 may be provided and alsotraction members or spikes 20, as customary in athletic shoes. I alsoprovide a reinforcing heel strip 22 secured at the bottom by stitching(not shown), along the side edges by stitching, 23 and at the top by adouble row of stitching 24, the upper portion of said heel strip havingWingdike extensions 26. It will be understood that the upper portion 10is formed of a single piece of leather which is seamed together as at 23under the heel strip 22.

Secured to the upper and extending from toe to heel thereof is arelatively Wide band of textile fabric material 30. Said material ispreferably of such a type as will provide extremely limited stretch inone direction, i. e., longitudinally of the shoe, say, to an extent ofthe order of about 1%. Such fabric should be of a tightly woven type andvarious types of weave and various fibers may be employed, such ascotton, silk or synthetic fibers such as those known on the market asacetate rayon, nylon, etc. A highly satisfactory weave is that known inthe textile industry as webbing which, as seen best in Figure l, isarranged in such a Way that its limited give or stretch is substantiallyonly in a longitudinal direction.

The Width of the band 30 is such that said band occupies a substantialproportion of the Width of the upper from the reinforcing portion 12 tothe sole, preferably about one-half or more of said width.

The band 30 is preferably formed of a single length of materialextending uninterruptedly around the heel of the shoe, being secured tothe upper 10, either on the inside or outside, but preferably on theoutside thereby by stitching 33, so as not to be felt by the wearer, andthe ends of the band being stitched under the toe of the shoe, as at 40.

As an alternative construction, instead of forming the band 30 in onepiece, it may be formed in two pieces secured individually by stitchingto the upper 10 at or adjacent the heel, as, for example, under the heelstrip 22.

The band 30 functions elfectively to limit the amount of longitudinalstretch of the shoe to an extremely low minimum regardless of the amountof flexing action given the shoe by the wearer and regardless of howmuch moisture may be imparted to the upper leather by perspiration orotherwise. At the same time, the slight yielding permitted by the fabricband 39 which is slightly resilient, tending to return after stretchingto its original length, will add comfort to the wearer because, althoughhis foot will be firmly enclosed in the soft, form-fitting shoethroughout the entire flexing action of the foot, at the same time therewill be no uncomfortably tight feeling as if the foot were bound in avise. The slight yielding permitted by the character of band 30 willnegative any such discomfort.

Although, as stated above, transverse stretch can be overcome byincreasingly tight lacing during the life of a shoe of this type, in theordinary shoe there comes a time after some use when the reinforcedmarginal portions 12 meet because of the stretching of the leather andstretching beyond this point results only in undesirable bagginess ofthe shoe, for which no compensation 3 can thereafter be made. Thesubstantial width of the band 30 prevents such efiect, because of therelatively slight width of upper leather not covered by the band.

The upper leather below band 30, being unreinforced, of course, retainsits maximum flexibility and thus may conform perfectly to the curvatureof the foot around the more muscular portions thereof.

In order to prevent still further the stretching of the upper leather atthe heel portion, I prefer to secure under the heel strip 22 a band 38of fabric similar to that of the band 30. The fabric band 38 ispreferably arranged with its weave disposed transversely to that of theband 30, so that its limited give Will be transversely of the shoe. Saidband 38 may be secured along its side edges, either over or under thestrip 30, as by stitching 39.

The method of manufacture of the shoe described above Will be obviousfrom the above description to anyone skilled in the art. Preferably, thebands 30 and 38 are stitched to the upper 10 before the upper isattached to the sole as by stitching 40.

Referring now to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 57, inclusive,the shoe is constructed substantially similarly to the shoe of Figures1-4 in regard to the orthodox parts of its structure, having an upperportion and a, sole portion 16 and sole taps 19 and 19'.

A band 30 of fabric or the like substantially similar to the band 30shown in the other figures is secured adjacent the toe portion of theshoe as at 40 in the same manner described for the other embodiment andextends longitudinally of the shoe to the heel portion 22, being securedthereto in a manner similar to the embodiment of Figures 1 and 4.

However, in the embodiment of Figures 5-7 the band 30', instead of beingsecured entirely to one side of the shoe upper, is interlaced from theoutside to the inside thereof, as seen best in Figure 5. Thus, the band30 is secured to the outside of the shoe adjacent the toe portion, beingstitched to the upper as at 33', and then extends through a slit 50 intothe inside of the shoe. It then extends unattached to a slit 52, atwhich point the band passes from the inside back to the outside of theshoe, extending along the outside and stitched thereto at 33 to anotherslit 54; the band passes through the slit 54 and again extendsunattached along the inside of the shoe to a slit 55 through which itpasses, continuing along the outside thereof and being stitched to theshoe from this point to the heel as in the embodiment of Figure 1. Theband 30 is also secured as by stitching 35, 35a, 35b and 350 adjacentthe slits 50, 52, 54 and 55.

As a result of the interlacing arrangement just de scribed, the shoesnugly conforms to the shape of the foot and retains this snug fitthroughout strenuous flexing, as in running. By leaving the bandpartially unstitched, close conformity of the band with the foot ismaintained despite some stretching of the upper leather.

The band may, of course, be stitched entirely on the departing from theessential spirit or scope thereof. Hence, I do not wish to be limited tothe particulars of the accompanying illustrations and drawings nor bythe language chosen in the foregoing description, except to the extentindicated in the appended claims.

This application is in part a continuation of my copending application,Serial No. 131,873, filed December 8, 1949, now abandoned.

I claim: I

1. A running shoe comprising a sole, calks carried by the ball portionof the sole, the heel portion of said sole being free of anti-slippingmeans, a low-cut upper or" soft leather, and longitudinalstretch-preventing means comprising a substantially non-stretchable tapeextending longitudinally on each side of the upper from the toe to theheel thereof and stitched along its side margins to the outside of theupper, the forward ends of said tape being turned under with the marginof the upper and secured between the outsole and the upper, said tapebeing of a width approximately half the height of the sides of the upperand spaced from the top and bottom margins along the greater lengththereof, whereby to provide a continuous toe-to-heel flat band anchoredadjacent the toe to opposite sides of the shoe and extending around theheel for eliminating excessive stretching of the upper and insuring acontinuous snug fit throughout a major area of the shoe.

2. A running shoe comprising a sole, calks carried by the ball portionof the sole, the heel portion of said sole being free of antislippingmeans, a low-cut upper of soft leather, and longitudinalstretch-preventing means comprising a substantially non-stretchable tapeextending longitudinally on each side of the upper from the toe to theheel thereof and stitched along its side margins thereto, the forwardends of said tape being turned under with the margin of the upper andsecured to the outsole, said tape being of a width approximately halfthe height of the sides of the upper and spaced from the top and bottommargins along the greater length thereof, whereby to provide acontinuous toe-to-heel flat band anchored adjacent the toe to theopposite sides of the shoe and extending around the heel for eliminatingexcessive stretching of the upper and ensuring a continuous snug fitthroughout a major area of the shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the originalpatent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 859,382 Hansen July 9, 1907 1,623,007 Herrrnann Mar. 29,1927 1,707,129 McMurchy Mar. 26, 1929 2,048,294 Roberts July 21, 19362,158,153 Roberts et al May 16, 1939 2,184,082 Roberts Dec. 19, 19392,184,261 Vamos Dec. 19, 1939 2,188,168 Winkel Ian. 23, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS 24,582/08 Great Britain Feb. 11, 1909

